Reuters Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's declaration in a speech on Saturday that he would leave power “in the coming days” is yet another act of brinkmanship from a leader who has spent much of the “Arab Spring” claiming he is about to step down. Saleh's words were taken almost universally as a ruse by Yemenis who have seen the wily operator survive through thick and thin since he took power in 1978. “Where is the catch?” said Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen scholar. “Saleh is dealing with a trust deficit in Yemen, and Yemenis are very wary of promises from this president.” Phrases like “in the coming days” have a highly flexible meaning for Saleh, who returned to Yemen from treatment in another country a month after he said in a speech to supporters that he would be back “soon”. Saleh has offered a long list of apparent concessions since youth activists, buoyed by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, first took to the streets of Sana'a in January to protest for an end to his rule and for democratic reforms. Ominously, they have often come with a sharp sting. After his ruling party called for dialogue with the opposition in a bid to stem anti-government protests on Jan. 29, his supporters attacked Yemenis trying to march to the Egyptian embassy to express solidarity with Egyptians who succeeded two weeks later in bringing down Hosni Mubarak. “He doesn't mean he's leaving in a few days literally,” said opposition politician Ali Seif Hassan. “He is trying to threaten the opposition that he can go alone to new elections without an agreement, but he can't now. It's too late.” After government snipers shot dead 52 people one day in March, Saleh shifted ground to talk publicly on numerous occasions of his readiness to step down and distaste in holding onto power for its own sake, but he expressed the desire to make sure of the people he hands the reins on to. “We don't want power but we need to hand power over to safe hands,” he told thousands of his own supporters on March 25. Following that, his government engaged openly in talks mediated by Gulf Arab countries on a mechanism for a transition to early parliamentary and presidential elections after Saleh formed a new opposition-led cabinet then relinquished the presidency. That arrangement, which even offered guarantees of no legal action against Saleh and his family, fell through three times as Saleh came up with last minute excuses for not signing. Saturday's apparent countdown to leaving office has a familiar ring to it then. In the same breath Saleh repeated that this long-time opposition party rivals, who he has outfoxed throughout his career, must not be the beneficiaries. Saleh was merely reiterating these positions, an adviser said. “Saleh has made it clear that he is ready to leave, but this will not happen before Yemen is led to a safe place where power can be transferred peacefully,” he said. __
